Maternity Care Options // What Choices Do I Have?

As I roll rather unceremoniously into my third trimester, my thoughts are turning to my maternity care options and what sort of choices are available. I live in a rural village so my choices for antenatal care are rather limited to the small local midwifery team, or indeed private maternity care and having carried one baby absolutely fine through the local midwives, I continued to see them this time around too.

When it comes to giving birth, my options are actually much more varied than they are for my antenatal care. I could opt for a home birth with the local team, I could opt for a home birth with a private midwifery team, I could head to one of 4 different NHS hospitals or I could book myself into a private midwife unit or a private maternity hospital.

Home Birth

I absolutely love the idea of a home birth, however a number of practical issues arise:

How do we fit a birthing pool into our small living room?

Do I feel happy being a minimum or 30 minutes away from a hospital should baby girl or I need medical attention?

Do I feel happy that our neighbour would be able to head me labouring through our terribly uninsulated walls?!

At would point would we turf Toby out to my parents’ and as they’re 30 minutes away, what if Phil got stuck in traffic taking him there and missed the birth?

Clearing up afterwards – That just fills my mind with hassle!

Overall, Phil and I are mostly leaning to the idea of not staying at home, so that when baby and I do come home it’s all just as we left it rather than there being a birthing pool to empty and dismantle and birthing paraphernalia hanging around. That said, I’d love to hear from any of you who have had a home birth if I’ve got this totally wrong and the midwife fairies will do all that for us!

Hospital/Midwife Unit Birth

So with staying at home looking less likely, what should we do? My inclination is to head back to the hospital in which Toby was born. It’s close to my parents’ house so easy for dropping the Tobester off en route, there’s a separate midwife-led unit on site with the labour ward being just a 2 minute walk through a corridor. One downside, however, is that it’s a busy hospital so they do sometimes have to close their doors and even if you do get in, there’s not a huge chance of getting a private room for recovery.

Labouring in the midwife unit, hanging from a rope!

When I was in labour with Toby I went to the midwife unit then had to waddle round to the ward because there was meconium in my water. That seems a lot easier than hauling my contracting, pained body into an ambulance and driving for 30 minutes then walking or being wheeled to the ward. I really liked the midwife unit and spent my time there hanging from the suspension rope! I’d love to complete the birth kneeling/squatting or in the pool rather than on a bed, but I like the security of knowing that medical help is 30 seconds away should an emergency arise.

Private Maternity Hospital

Well, this would absolutely be the dream! One thing that I really dislike about the thought of birthing in an NHS hospital – aside from being turned away if they’re busy – is then being on the ward afterwards and not in a private room. I was discharged with Toby after 6 hours, but with hindsight this was a really bad decision and this time I want to stay in and get help with feeding, not to mention not having a crazy toddler running around whilst I’m in the haze of the first day or two!

The idea of a private maternity hospital is so appealing, however sadly our healthcare policy doesn’t include maternity care so it’s not a viable option right now.

I’ve had mixed opinions about the maternity care that I’ve received so far in this pregnancy; from a very disappointing 16 week appointment to a very helpful 28 week one and I think that the main thing for women is to feel supported and cared for. Being pregnant can be a nervous time and even though I’ve been very lucky thus far with two relatively straightforward pregnancies, I still have questions and worries, things I need to be reassured about.

Giving birth is a huge deal and again, support is very important if a woman is to feel empowered in the decisions she and her partner make. I birthed Toby using a TENS machine and a few hits of gas and air – which I hated! Even when he was crowning repeatedly and not getting very far I was never pressured to have a ventouse or forceps, I was encouraged to keep going and that made me feel strong enough both to keep going, but also to know that I could ask for help if I felt I needed it.

Whether baby girl arrives at home or in hospital, on a bed or in a pool, with her mummy using a TENS machine or having had a cesarean, the main thing for me is that the medical professionals caring for us take mine and Phil’s wishes into consideration, that they fully inform us as to our options at every stage and that ultimately, we are part of the decision making process.

I would absolutely love to hear about your birth choices and how things went during your antenatal, birth and postnatal care so please leave me a comment below, or get in touch on Facebook or Twitter.

Disclaimer:This post is brought to you by The Portland Hospital – the only private hospital in the UK dedicated exclusively to the care of women and children. For more information, please visit – www.theportlandhospital.com

Comments (6)

I honestly think next time I’d like to have a home birth, especially as births are meant to get quicker each time, and we only just made it to hospital last time haha. I think it’s awful that not all hospitals have private rooms after birth. Our local (5/10mins away) had a revamp a few years ago, and every patient gets a private room with ensuite, which is absolutely fantastic!

I really hope you get a fantastic birth, that’s a painless as it can be haha. The midwife led unit sounds like your best bet I think xx

I loved my home birth! I tried to have one the first time but various things meant I ended up being induced in hospital. But, having prepared for a home birth really benefited the way we approached our hospital birth as we were pretty clued up on a lot of stuff. I had my second baby at home and it was such a calm, empowering experience. Not hectic at all. The drive is a question you’ll have to answer for yourself. Maybe you could chat with your midwife about it? I have a friend who recently got stuck in traffic going to hospital, though, so I guess the drive affects you either way and midwives don’t tend to take any risks. As soon as there is the slightest whiff that something may be going wrong (and for low risk women, this tends to happen over a period of time rather than in a matter of minutes) they’ll ring an ambulance. The neighbour hearing you is another personal question but I’d rather them hear me than me hear other women making noise which is what happened my first time around in central delivery. As for kids, a lot of babies are born at night so you never know it could be fine for him to be there. I laboured in the day and couldn’t handle my daughter being around so my in-laws came and picked her up. It was calm, it’s just that everytime she talked to me, everything slowed down. Clearing up – preparation goes a long way and we made it extra easy by having a doula so she pretty much did it all. Obviously, I’m just sharing my experience as you asked. Midwife-led units sound awesome too. I love your rope picture, especially! I wonder where I’ll end up with baby number three!

I had Toby in a midwife led unit and didn’t have any problems – he was born at lunch time and we stayed overnight but there were no beds on the ward so I ended up staying in the delivery room the whole time. Having to go on a ward was one of the reasons I didn’t want to go to hospital for my second birth. That and the fact that my entire labour and birth with Toby was only 8 hours and they told me the second was likely to be quicker (it was, only 5 hours this time and I went from 1cm to birth in 3 and a half hours!)

I had a lot of the same concerns about you with regards to home birth and I wasn’t sure whether I was going to go through with it right until I was in labour. I was really worried about what we would do with Toby as my parents don’t even live anywhere near but they came up and stayed about half an hour away. I went into labour at night but when the midwife came Gabe’s heart rate was a bit low so we called my parents and they came in case we needed to go to hospital. We didn’t as it turned out so they just went to bed (although my mum didn’t sleep) and Toby slept through the whole thing anyway. I decided not to have a pool as we didn’t really have anywhere to put it and Barry didn’t want the stress of being responsible for it. We just put waterproof sheets on the sofa and the floor covered with some old sheets and towels and then the midwives used those disposable pads. They did most of the clean up – I was just left with a full load in the washing machine and a bag to chuck in the bin. The best bit of the home birth for me wasn’t really the birth itself but rather the fact I was at home afterwards and not stuck in hospital. Well, that and the fact that I had all my midwife appointments at home in the third trimester and two midwives to myself for the actual birth.

I realise I’ve written a bit of an essay here – you obviously just need to do whatever you feel comfortable with. If you want to know any more about home birth though, give me a shout

Just to say, home birth doesn’t have to involve a pool! I’m planning one but won’t be using a pool as I just don’t want the hassle of it. The midwives said they would clear everything up afterwards too. Obviously if you want a water birth they’re useful, but I’ve heard of people having their baby in the bath!

I really hope you get a fantastic birth. Home birth is very easy , there is no need to worry if you are under the control of experienced and licensed midwife….

Home birth may be an option for you if:

You are having a healthy, low-risk pregnancy
You want to avoid an episiotomy, cesarean section, epidural and other similar interventions
You want to share the experience with family and friends
You want to be free to move around, change positions, take a shower, and eat or drink freely during labor
You want to enjoy the comforts of your home and familiar surroundings